I AM CAUGHT BEHIND THE FORMER IRON CURTAIN, AND MY POSTS CAN'T GET OUT.

I'LL TRY AGAIN NEXT WEEK FROM FRANCE.

SORRY 'BOUT THAT

Are People Really That Stupid?Fortunately, the answer to the above question is usually "No." However, people do enough fairly-stupid to seriously-stupid things to keep the rest of us entertained most of the time. Unfortunately, the human race is in the middle of doing a couple of really stupid things that may result in wiping ourselves off the face of the planet. Given this scenario, the blogger might be forgiven if the subjects he covers range from the sublime to the ridiculous. Feel free to join in. Maybe you'll say something smart.

NIMBY is one of the most tossed-around terms you see in the media these days. Well, in the print media anyway. It somehow doesn't provide the same acronymic satisfaction when spoken aloud.

When used accurately, it describes one of the more selfish aspects of human nature. We all recognize the need for garbage dumps, mental hospitals, and addict treatment centres. It's just that having one of these property-value-killing operations in my neighbourhood really affects the quality of my superior suburban life. Why don't you just put them where they will bother someone else?

When misused, the term comes to mean exactly the opposite. It means that I want something to happen because it will be very good for me, and anybody who has the nerve to oppose me is just being selfish. I mean, this huge mall is going to bring shoppers from all over. Think of the jobs. Think of the money I am bringing into the community. How selfish of my opponents, who like their little rural village just the way it has been for the past century.

The question that always needs to be asked is, “Which of the above is true?” Or, to be more exact, “Which of the above is more true?” Because if the developer is the one putting his needs above the good of the community, then we listen to the protesters. If the protesters are perceived as NIMBYs, they lose all credibility.

This is For Your Own Good

The protesters always have one way to increase their clout; "We're doing this for the good of the community." This plaint usually has some validity. There is always a balance, always a choice, always a trade-off between benefits of progress and the risk of what might be lost, and we all need to find out about those risks.

However, it usually comes down to the needs of the smaller local community weighed against the needs of society at large. Hence the charge, right or wrong, of NIMBYism.

Progress Has to Happen, Right?

And that's the problem. Our economic system is based on continual growth. Community planning must, at the core, accommodate the progress that we need to feed the ever-increasing demands of our lifestyle. However, too much progress, too fast, destroys the lifestyle we want to lead.

Two major projects in Northern British Columbia fall into this discussion. One is a large hydro-electric dam, which will be a great step towards making our province low-carbon energy efficient for decades to come. However, it will flood a large area of fertile farmland and animal habitat. The other is a high-capacity oil pipeline, which will give Canada huge revenues when Alberta Tar Sands oil is sold to the world. However, the pipes must cross the whole province to a terminal port that requires tankers to navigate a complicated and ecologically sensitive (aren't they all?) coastal environment. The financial benefits of this pipeline will mainly accrue to the neighbouring landlocked province.

On analysis, these two projects do not come across as equal. The dam is of definite benefit to the whole province, and most of the losses are immediate and easy to assess: acres of arable land, cubic metres of timber and that sort of thing. The pipeline is mostly of benefit to someone else and brings no immediate losses at all, only the danger of catastrophic loss in the future, should a major oil spill occur.

A key point in this discussion is whether the small number of local opponents, many of whom are First Nations tribes, are indulging in NIMBY, and selfishly stopping progress that is needed to pay for the burgeoning medicare and infrastructure costs of the whole nation. Countering this is the fact that the local opponents are those who know these areas the best, so their claim to be protecting the land for everyone has clout. If they present it in an appropriate manner. If all they do is convince everyone that they are shouting “NIMBY,” they will be ignored. They need to be reminded that threats of force and violence lead everyone to the conclusion that self-interest is paramount.

How Much NIMBY?

The point we all have to ask ourselves when we take a stand against any project or idea is how much we are acting out of our own needs, and how much of our stand is based on legitimate concern for everyone else. Sure, you can't allow yourself to be pushed over by every developer wanting to make a quick buck. But neither should you stand in the way of the needs of society.

Change is Always Risky

The question is whether the risk is worth it. Analysis of that point should lead to honest discussion. Emotional diatribe only leads to divisiveness and winner-take-all non-negotiation. “The louder and the approach, the weaker the argument.”

Protest Can Work

Ecological activism tried to shut down the costal logging industry here a few decades ago, with limited success. Logging still exists, but on a more sustainable level, and in a more restricted area than previously. The “tree huggers” still storm out every once in a while to keep industry on its toes, but nobody has been arrested for chaining themselves to logging equipment or trees for quite a while. Now that everything has stabilized at the new levels, it seems a win-win solution.

Who Wins? Hopefully, Everybody.

The tyranny of the majority can be balanced these days by the tyranny of a small and active minority. Government needs to listen very carefully to both. The dam and the pipeline will someday be completed. The provincial and federal governments have pretty well determined that. How they are implemented, and how much the needs and knowledge of the local community are taken into consideration, will have a great deal to do with how smoothly, successfully, and beneficially the process takes place. How the local opponents of the project comport themselves, and the motivation they reveal, will have a great deal to do with how much influence they have on the outcome. Let us hope their back yards do not suffer too greatly.

To prevent automated Bots from commentspamming, please enter the string you see in the image below in the appropriate input box. Your comment will only be submitted if the strings match. Please ensure that your browser supports and accepts cookies, or your comment cannot be verified correctly.Enter the string from the spam-prevention image above:

Gordon A. Long is a semi-retired teacher living in
Delta, British Columbia. There he indulges his life-long interests in writing,
theater, photography, travel, dogs, and sailing (not necessarily in that
order).

He also runs Airborn Press and helps beginning writers with
editing, proofreading, designing, publishing and marketing their books. His
business experience includes providing technical and management services in the
theatrical and convention field for forty years, from school and amateur
theatre all the way up to the 2010 Olympics.

Has he invested in the Stock Market? Yes. Was he successful? Yes. Did he
make a killing? Not a chance. He isn't that smart. Or that stupid.